CONSIDERAȚII ÎN LEGĂTURĂ CU FUNCȚIILE, CARACTERELE ȘI NATURA JURIDICĂ A CLAUZEI PENALE

The penal clause gives the advantage of leaving to the parties, and not to the law court, to fix the amount representing compensation for the damage incurred, this way the parties being informed, from the time of conclusion of contract, on what and how much the costs would be if they fail to fulfil the obligations assumed, being, from this point of view, a mechanism not only of defense against the consequences of a damaging non-performance, but also of constraint, both legal and moral, not allowing the parties to hope that, maybe, they will not pay or will pay much less for „breaking” the contract. This study examines the functions of the penal clause, namely the function of guarantee of performance of obligations, the function of mobilization of the debtor to perform its obligations, the sanctioning function and the compensatory function. At the same time, the study analyzes the consensual, incidental, sanctioning and reparative nature of the penal clause, as well as the legal nature of this type of clause.